Search This Blog

Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

Split Reviewed By Joseph Hoshino

After three girls are kidnapped by a man with 24
distinct personalities they must find some of the different personalities that
can help them while running away and staying alive from the others.

The Review

To be honest, I have not watched
many of M. Night Shyamalan’s films and have heard some scathing opinions about
a lot of his most recent titles. From those that I have seen, I was somewhat
surprised to learn that The Sixth Sense and After Earth were written and
directed by the man himself. Split however, was certainly well done in my
opinion and I believe many would agree it’s one of his best films to date.

T

he overall story is filled with
mystery, suspense, subtlety and even the occasional humor. While I found myself
rooting for Casey in her endeavour to escape, I was also intrigued to discover
the backstory behind her kidnapper which was slowly revealed piece by piece at
a nice and fitting pace. Subtle references in certain scenes also gave the
storyline more depth which ultimately made it more memorable for me. While
there are a minor handful of scenes that I found somewhat predictable, I was
still able to enjoy and focus harder on the unravelings of answers to bigger
questions in my mind.

What really carries this story are
the performances of its fantastic cast, centering around the characters of
Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), Casey Cooke (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Dr. Karen
Fletcher (Betty Buckley).

McAvoy as Kevin Wendell Crumb
suffers dissociative identity disorder as 23 unique individuals. As someone who
has had experience with acting for stage and screen, I can only imagine the
mental and physical challenges of portraying that range of personalities in a
strange and creepy undertone. Sure there are a lot of actors who have comically
played more than one character in certain films, but this is one of the few
times I have seen it in a serious role.

Of the three teenage girls abducted,
Casey stands out not only as a main character but also as the most socially
unique. Claire and Marcia are portrayed as the idea of typical teenage girls
seen in many films while Casey is introduced as someone who is quiet and
deprives herself from others for unknown reasons. I believe this role has the
potential for Taylor-Joy to expand her career opportunities.

Buckley as Dr. Fletcher shines as a
symbol of hope in her attempts to help Kevin throughout some of the film’s
biggest unravelings. She struck me as a talented and experienced actress which
was a great casting decision at the end of the day.

The Verdict

Like The Sixth Sense,Split
is suspenseful, thought-provoking and mysterious with outside the box thinking
that pulls the story together, followed by outstanding performances of its
cast. Shyamalan made a brave move in writing and directing this film and I hope
to see more from him in the future.

M. Night Shyamalan stated that shooting this film was
the most challenging of his career

Joaquin Phoenix was originally cast for the role of
Kevin but couldn't do it due to scheduling difficulties, so James McAvoy took
his place. Joaquin Phoenix and the production couldn't reach a contract
agreement and James McAvoy was cast in the lead.

James McAvoy had previously played someone suffering
from multiple personality disorder in the film Filth (2013)

According to M. Night Shyamalan, 'Split' is his
longest movie to this date.

M. Night Shyamalan stated that he hired
cinematographer Mike Gioukakis after seeing his work on It Follows (2015) and
composer West Dylan Thordson after hearing his music on the TV show The Jinx:
The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015).

Will be the second film collaboration for M. Night
Shyamalan and Jason Blum, the other being The Visit (2015).

The first film directed by Shyamalan to use a
different composer other than James Newton Howard since Wide Awake (1998).

At the AFI Fest screening, Betty Buckley referred to
herself as "the crazy lady from The Happening".